Demonstration: No US Military Intervention in Syria

The Syracuse Peace Council calls on people of conscience to join us Friday to show opposition to the proposed escalation of US military intervention in Syria. Bring your signs, bring your voices, bring your friends.

The US government is threatening a bombing campaign against Syria, which could start as early as Thursday. US government officials claim this is a response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians. Yet, there is little effort being made to wait for concrete evidence about the alleged chemical weapons attack. Once again, the US government is using the façade of humanitarianism as an excuse for rushing to war.

The Syracuse Peace Council calls for:

Diplomacy – Work to de-escalate the conflict and use diplomatic pressure to bring about a political settlement.

Respect for the US Constitution and international law – Obama does not have the legal authority to bomb Syria without a vote from Congress. Internationally, the US also does not have the legal right to bomb Syria without UN Security Council approval.

Humanitarian aid – To prevent as much suffering as possible, the US government should ramp up involvement in international efforts to address the humanitarian crises affecting millions of Syrian civilians, many of whom have become internal and external refugees. As of July 25, only 36% of the $4.4 billion requested for humanitarian aid by the UN had been raised. (See the humanitarian aid data here.)

The civil war in Syria has already seen an enormous loss of life. Our main goal in opposing US military strikes on Syria is to prevent escalation of the war and further loss of life. There is no evidence that bombing Syria will make life better for Syrian civilians, and history teaches us that US military involvement could have catastrophic unintended consequences. This will be true regardless of what the evidence eventually shows about the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

We call on Representative Dan Maffei and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to assert Congressional authority and oppose Obama’s unilateral decision-making on US military involvement in Syria. Maffei’s local office number is (315) 423-5657 and Senators’ offices can be reached at (202) 224-3121.

The Syracuse Peace Council educates, agitates and organizes for a world where war, violence and exploitation in any form will no longer exist. We are community-based, autonomous and funded by the contributions of our supporters. See the full Statement of Purpose.